For Those Pulling Campers with their 1500 3.21 or 3.92

[Oak Grove]

Getting ready to pull the trigger on my '21 Laramie 4WD Order. I am still debating if I should go with the 3.21 or 3.92 axles. I drive ~30,000 miles per year. I plan to have this truck about 3 years and would like to get a camper again within a year or 2. The truck will be my Mom of 3 Suburban replacement. We don't have a truck currently to pull a 5th Wheel, so would just be bumper pull. Having to buy a used 2500 may delay a camper purchase even longer. Kids really want a pontoon, so may just have to settle for that for awhile. Our last camper was a 23 foot, and really wanted more around 30 ft. But, may just need to buy smaller just to get going with the truck I have. I often was the one taking the camper when we had it before and we like to take 2 vehicles with a boat. My husband and son usually would go a day or 2 early with his truck bed camper and boat and my 2 girls and I would come with the camper after. I don't need my dream camper now, just miss camping!

So I'm curious, what camper length/weighs are you comfortably pulling with your 1500? And which axles do you have? My understanding is that a 30 ft is really going to be too long to safely pull a 1500 anyway.

 

[jdefoe0424]

Check out the towing section, there's multiple threads there about travel trailers.
If you know what you're doing and comfortable towing, a 30' can be fine. It's just making sure you understand all the weights and have a good WDH.
Most people will say distance you pull is a factor as well, I've pulled my 32' about 750 miles in 2 days. While it was doable for me, my wife didn't like the bouncing etc. down the highways.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

[Juli_hoop]

I pull a 21' Jayco jay flight bumper pull travel trailer. about 4,500lbs fully loaded. 19 Ram Rebel with 3.92 gears and WDH, pulls it no problem even up steep grades going 65 on highway.

 

[bwolfe84]

I have 32' bumper pull. My laramie have 3.92. My trailer is 8000 max (I think). Someone already said it, it is what you are comfortable with. According to Dodge, a 19 Laramie with a 5.7 and regeared with 3.92 can pull 11K+. I am not suggesting you should but it says it can handle it. Even though it is a Dodge, it is still 8K of weight that I am pulling and you can feel it. I haven't taken my trailer up any steep grades yet but I don't suspect it will have any issues.

 

[cj7]

I have a 5.7 crew w/3.92, and tow a 6800# 29’TT. While I like the 3.92, next time I’ll get the taller gears, mostly because theres really no need for 9-11k of tow capacity. At that wet #, the tongue weight is too much for a half-ton’s payload. . Having driven both, the 3.92 is a little more lively, but also suffers a bit in MPG. The only real diff on the road towing, is which gear it holds...there’s plenty of juice to get rolling.
Personal pref based on priorities, either will work fine....

I am comfortable with my TT size/weight and this truck, but would prob not go past 30’/8k wet with a half-ton. M2c, ymmv.

 

[OldMarine]

well...I can give you a fresh report, in August I towed my 23 Jayco Hybrid,( #4200 dry weight), fully loaded, with gear in the truck, all in we were about #6000...we went from Boston to FT Collins CO, then up to Sturgis, then back. 600-700 miles a day, until we got there, and same on the way back. All together, 4700 miles. I have 3.21 rear end in my Limited. Towed like an absolute dream. I run a WD Hitch, with a sway bar. We even went thru the Aug 10th "Derecho" storm in Iowa,(112 mph winds). Very happy with the 3.21...if I was towing #7000 or more, i would go 3.92...anything under that, either one will be fine. Good luck sir!

 

[Dusty1948]

Getting ready to pull the trigger on my '21 Laramie 4WD Order. I am still debating if I should go with the 3.21 or 3.92 axles. I drive ~30,000 miles per year. I plan to have this truck about 3 years and would like to get a camper again within a year or 2. The truck will be my Mom of 3 Suburban replacement. We don't have a truck currently to pull a 5th Wheel, so would just be bumper pull. Having to buy a used 2500 may delay a camper purchase even longer. Kids really want a pontoon, so may just have to settle for that for awhile. Our last camper was a 23 foot, and really wanted more around 30 ft. But, may just need to buy smaller just to get going with the truck I have. I often was the one taking the camper when we had it before and we like to take 2 vehicles with a boat. My husband and son usually would go a day or 2 early with his truck bed camper and boat and my 2 girls and I would come with the camper after. I don't need my dream camper now, just miss camping!

So I'm curious, what camper length/weighs are you comfortably pulling with your 1500? And which axles do you have? My understanding is that a 30 ft is really going to be too long to safely pull a 1500 anyway.

My '19 2wd Quad Cab came with a card in the glovebox advising me that my truck was not rated for 5th wheel towing. I do not know the technical reasons behind this, but I was informed that it applied to all Ram 1500s.

My previous two 4th gen Ram 1500s had the 3.92 axle and were rated for 10,450 lb. towing with a class 4 receiver hitch. At that time my towing requirements were for a 9300 pound trailer and tractor combination. My 2014 with the 8-speed transmission handled it exceptionally well on hills. However, my week-to-week driving did not deliver the gas mileage of my current truck with the 3.21 axle.

My current 5th gen DT (2019) has the 3.21 axle and I now tow a 2300 lb. trailer with a 3000 lb. tractor, which is approximately 2000 lbs. less that the vehicles tow rating. My reasoning for ordering the truck with the 3.21 is that my actual need for towing would be less than 2% of my total miles driven, and since this is my only vehicle I sought gas mileage over towing capability.

Surprisingly, the 3.21 tows the 5300+ pounds really well, although when towing there appears to be a slight gas mileage penalty compared to my last truck with 3.92 gears. The 8-speed transmission makes up for the axle ratio difference to a large extent.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 041341 miles.

 

[Tonner]

Gear ratio and tow aside. The problem isn’t how much it can tow but the payload. The payload in these trucks suck. I just bought a 2021 Laramie without realizing my payload was only 1165. I take it most of you could care less about exceeding payload? I will say this forum has helped me tremendously with advice on pulling a travel trailer. Thanks @devildodge and @WhattheTruck!

 

[Zeronet]

I take it most of you could care less about exceeding payload?

There are plenty of Big Horn owners on the forum with 1700-1800 payload. Great numbers for towing.

I’ve got a Longhorn that I think is very well equipped with 1479 payload. Its quite luxurious but still capable for towing. I avoided most of the heavier options (multi function tailgate ~125lbs, ramboxes 163lbs, off road group 120lbs, sunroof 70, eTorque 80). But did get the 33gal fuel tank 73 lbs.

But yeh, if you want all those options it will reduce your payload and you won’t have as-capable a towing rig. More options = less payload.

 

[Lake Ram]

My 2020 Big Horn has 1802 payload and 11,702 max towing. It is plenty for the majority of travel trailers or toy haulers out there.

 

[devildodge]

17000 minus 11702 is a base weight of 5298.

7100 minus 5298 is 1802 lbs of payload.

Damn...that is awesome @Lake Ram that has to be one of the highest 4x4 payloads I have seen.

But...does every one see how the max tow number is bloated. It is Gross Combined Rating minus base weight...so that doesn't even include the hitch or driver.

RAM fixed the payload calculator and completely dropped the ball on max trailer rating.

They must like getting calls from angry customers lol

 

[Tonner]

There are plenty of Big Horn owners on the forum with 1700-1800 payload. Great numbers for towing.

I’ve got a Longhorn that I think is very well equipped with 1479 payload. Its quite luxurious but still capable for towing. I avoided most of the heavier options (multi function tailgate ~125lbs, ramboxes 163lbs, off road group 120lbs, sunroof 70, eTorque 80). But did get the 33gal fuel tank 73 lbs.

But yeh, if you want all those options it will reduce your payload and you won’t have as-capable a towing rig. More options = less payload.

Yeah.......lessen learned. Unfortunately I didn’t realize that and got ramboxes, sunroof, etorque and just about everything else. I could still tow the trailer but could only get 2 people maximum in the truck itself.

 

[silver billet]

Getting ready to pull the trigger on my '21 Laramie 4WD Order. I am still debating if I should go with the 3.21 or 3.92 axles. I drive ~30,000 miles per year. I plan to have this truck about 3 years and would like to get a camper again within a year or 2. The truck will be my Mom of 3 Suburban replacement. We don't have a truck currently to pull a 5th Wheel, so would just be bumper pull. Having to buy a used 2500 may delay a camper purchase even longer. Kids really want a pontoon, so may just have to settle for that for awhile. Our last camper was a 23 foot, and really wanted more around 30 ft. But, may just need to buy smaller just to get going with the truck I have. I often was the one taking the camper when we had it before and we like to take 2 vehicles with a boat. My husband and son usually would go a day or 2 early with his truck bed camper and boat and my 2 girls and I would come with the camper after. I don't need my dream camper now, just miss camping!

So I'm curious, what camper length/weighs are you comfortably pulling with your 1500? And which axles do you have? My understanding is that a 30 ft is really going to be too long to safely pull a 1500 anyway.

Just another viewpoint to consider; the latest 2500's can be found cheaper than a Laramie 1500, if you're willing to move down to cloth seats and lose some tech like lane keep assist etc etc.

Having to do it over again, I would have gone this route; a big horn 2500 with the 6.4 hemi, maybe would have cost a few thousand more but I would have had much more truck too. 5th wheel's then become an option, but just much more stable towing with more power available as well.

My truck pulls my current trailer with ease, but I've already got upgrade plans. If you're buying new, that's what I would do, just step down one trim to big horn and get a much bigger truck.

 

[jastevenson]

ride quality gets worse though.

 

[WhattheTruck!]

I haven't picked up the TT yet, but went with the 3.92. On the few non-trailer road trips of 60 - 300 miles I have been on, I average 29+ mpg @ speeds of 70-75. That, plus the ride quality, is why we went with the 1500.

 

[Oak Grove]

Thanks for so many responses!

Jdefoe-Thanks, I'll have to find the towing forum as well.

that is awesome @Lake Ram that has to be one of the highest 4x4 payloads I have seen.

Silver Bullet-A 2500 would work great for my husband...but not ideal for me for an everyday driver @30K miles per year. Since this is replacing the Suburban, I also want the Rambox/Multi-function tailgate. Eventually, we will get a 2500 with the 5th wheel setup, but many other things to do at the moment and not enough storage for everything anyway! Debating how to make a camper work with my primary vehicle, even if it isn't exactly the camper I want.
Whatthetruck-You must have a Diesel? I would love that, but can't really justify the increased cost.

 

[WhattheTruck!]

Whatthetruck-You must have a Diesel? I would love that, but can't really justify the increased cost.

@Oak Grove I do indeed. It definitely comes at a premium. The incentives that were available really helped out the bottom line.

My general build is as follows - Big Horn | Eco | 3.92 | 4x4 | Crew Cab | 6 seat | 5'7" | Rambox | Trailer-Tow Package | L1 | 1,535 Payload

Just remember that the Multi-function tail gate and Rambox combo could drop your overall payload capacity by ~300lbs, potentially resulting in ~2500lbs (@2,500 x .12) less of overall TT weight you'd be able to handle. That might factor into your TT options depending on what you're going for.

 

[Oak Grove]

WhattheTruck-So the Rambox and MFT would make the TT I could tow 2500 pounds less? I thought it was a 300 pound less. I would love Diesel, and will for sure do that WHEN we get a 2500. But the 2500 would be used way less (we are building on our Hobby Farm). Since the 1500 will be the primary family vehicle, I would regret more not having these 2 options. My current Suburban is about to hit 200K miles after 5.5 years....so already decided that we are going to start upgrading sooner @75/100K miles. Even with the 3.92, I can't get the TT camper I really want, so it is a compromise regardless of which gears I choose. I was just hoping to get a bigger/nicer one that what I already sold! Even if we had a used 2500, there would be a huge advantage to being able to use my nicer everyday truck to travel. That is why I wanted to get an idea what everyone is pulling comfortably with the 2 different gears.

 

[WhattheTruck!]

@Oak Grove I know, it sounds a bit strange. Lets use a safe hitch weight factor of .12 and a few different TT combos to show how this plays out.

TT #1 has a dry weight of 5,300lbs. and GVWR of 7,500lbs.

• In this example, the dry hitch weight would be somewhere in the 635lbs., while the 'fully loaded' hitch weight would be in the 900 lbs. range. I think 2,500lbs. of gear is a whole heck of a lot of stuff and you'd probably average closer to half that or less, but either way the 900lbs. of hitch weight is a good number to budget from and ensure you're always in safe operating ranges .

TT #2 has a dry weight of 7,300lbs. and a GVWR of 10,000lbs.

• In this example, the dry hitch weight would be somewhere in the 875lbs., while the fully loaded hitch weight would be upwards of 1,200lbs. Again, I think 2,500lbs. of gear is a whole heck of a lot but you run the possibility of having 1,200 hitch weight on a fully loaded TT.

When I was referencing the 2,500lbs. of difference in TT weight, this is what I was referring to. The difference of these two TT's hitch weight, dry or fully-loaded, is about the difference of Rambox and MF Tailgate. That might end up being the difference between a TT with an open bunkhouse vs one with a slide and separate bunkhouse.

I hope that helps! As always, YMMV.

 

[Oak Grove]

Whatthetruck-Thanks, I was confused! Even with the 3.92, I feel that GVWR 10,000 is pushing it too much. It would be extremely rare that we would not take 2 vehicles camping, even 3 hours away. 1 reason being that I may need to quickly come back fo work with no notice...the other being able the convenience of it with the girls not wanting to fish all day..lol. My kids are all tall teens, so I am exploring the idea of no bunkhouse. Myself and 2 girls would be under 350/400 even in the next few years, so that would probably help offset the weight calculations of the rambox/MFT. I think I am debating if I should bump up to the 3.92 to offer more flexibility picking a camper, or just wait another year or 2 when we would already be getting a bigger truck that isn't a primary vehicle. Kids are already 10-15, so 2 years is a lot of their remaining childhood. While we can still go camping, us moms enjoy it a lot more with a camper....lol. And not my husband's truck topper one, which he loves!